Morning news brief: Mexico decriminalises marijuana, Oxford study backs vaccine mixing, and more

Morning news brief: In this newsletter, we bring to you the largest news stories of the morning. Mexico has done the unthinkable after its Supreme Court decriminalised the recreational usage of marijuana, opening up alleys to make the country the largest legal market for the plant, especially for the US and Canada. A new report has revealed how user spending on mobile phone applications has hit record high in the first half of 2021, trumping all former records withTikTok dominating the charts! A new study sheds light on the protection offered by mixing of COVID-19 vaccines. On Monday, Facebook hit $1 trillion in value after a judge rejected antitrust complaints.

This and more below. Click on the headline to read the full story.

New Zealand to partially restart travel 'bubble' with Australia

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The New Zealand government said it will resume quarantine-free travel with parts of Australia next week as it lifted COVID-19 curbs in Wellington on Tuesday

Record heat forces western Canada province to shut schools, universities

British Columbia closed schools and universities on Monday due to extreme heat which pushed temperature in the western Canadian province to a national record over the weekend, in a country that is widely known for its brutal winter and snows

UN peacekeeping missions prepare for possible shutdown

United Nations peacekeeping missions globally are preparing for a possible shutdown on Thursday if the 193-member UNGeneral Assembly is unable to agree a new $6 billion budget for the year to June 30, 2022, officials and diplomats said on Monday

Biden vows to Israel: No nuclear weapon for Iran on my watch

USPresident Joe Biden, in a meeting on Monday with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, said his commitment to Israel is "iron-clad" and he looks forward to meeting with new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett soon

A USjudge on Monday dismissed federal and state antitrust complaints against Facebook Inc that sought to force the social media company to sell Instagram and WhatsApp, saying the federal complaint was "legally insufficient"

US House Republicans oppose Democratic-led China bill

US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans said on Monday they opposed Democratic-led legislation intended to boost competitiveness with China and push Beijing on human rights, meaning the panel will likely advance the bill this week with only Democratic support

People spent nearly $65 billion on mobile apps this year. Which ones topped the list?

Application revenue earned from mobile phone users around the world jumped to record amount in the first half of 2021, market tracker Sensor Tower said on Monday

COVID-19: Mixing vaccines gives strong immune protection, Oxford study suggests

A UK study has discovered that combining one dosage of the AstraZeneca vaccine with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine produces strong immunological responses, as measured by blood tests, in recent experiments

Mexico's top court decriminalises marijuana use, paving pathway for world's largest cannabis market

Stoners in Mexico could soon be able to relish marijuana in peace after country’s top court urged Congress to legalise its recreational use